Chicago and New York come together in Brooklyn to record this excellent encounter between pianist Matthew Shipp and flutist Nicole Mitchell, with Michael Bisio on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums, bridging exciting free playing with strong lyrical elements, balancing kinetically exuberant interaction with introspective and dark moments; inspired and masterful.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2019 Country: France Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel Recorded at Park West Studios, in Brooklyn, New York, on August 7th 2018, by Jim Clouse.
"All Things Are is the very first musical encounter between Nicole Mitchell and Matthew Shipp, two great musicians with already very rich backgrounds. It happened as quickly as simply; a shared desire, a date set for the recording session on a scorching afternoon, four musicians who are immediately so close that there will be only one shot for each piece. We expected a lot of this confrontation; the result goes far beyond."-Rogueart
"This is a wonderful and overdue meeting of the minds between Matthew Shipp on piano and Nicole Mitchell on flute and alto flute, with Michael Bisio on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums. Recorded one hot summer day in Brooklyn it's a masterful session, each recording a first take and demonstrating the unique symmetry of this group of musicians. "Elements" has spare piano with bass and percussion with spacious flute entering and gradually integrating itself within the performance. There are dark undertones to the music, and the pace picks up with percussive piano playing, whirling flute and crashing drums before dynamically downshifting to crystalline piano and flute weaving through trills and full breaths leading to a cascading improvisation finale for the full quartet. Piano and flute converse in a mid tempo dialogue on "Well Spring" and Mitchell's flute flutters as Shipp hits bass end chords on the piano, leading to an organically evolving improvisation, adding long tones of flute and gentler keyboard resonance. "It" has flute holding notes in space, amid slight percussion and bowed bass, developing a very affecting and appealing sound. The piano sits out allowing the sound to open further, giving room for the evocative bowed bass and free sounding drumming, and the long tones of flute and arcing bowed bass compliment each other particularly well. "Void of Ground" features bounding piano, bass and drums tempered by a hint of darkness. The flute blends in and works from a repetitive figure, and Shipp alternate between crushing low end chords and urgent comping, creating an explosive dynamo which helps to power a fast paced flute improvisation. The juxtaposition between the lighter sounding flute and the heavier piano, bass and drums is very present, and one of the driving factors in the success of the performance. Quiet tones of flute with piano are at the center of "Water and Earth" as Shipp's notes just seem to hang in the air. The music is very free sounding, adding the slightest brushed percussion, the group plays with great patience communicating gracefully together. "Fire and Air" develops from ripples of percussion and mysterious sounding flute, jumping and diving in a bird like fashion, and building to a spellbinding solo with melodic elements. Full bodied piano with thick bass move in tandem on "Blossom" driving forward and pushing the tempo further upward as Shipp's piano becomes more percussive and develops a more linear approach, leading to a wonderful conclusion. Finally, "All Things Are," features bowed bass with flute and piano in a dark and ominous yet fascinating improvisation, building ever stronger through the application of muscular drums and piano, Mitchell is undeterred, flying through and around, finding spaces in the huge structure and soaring right through them leading to a righteous unaccompanied flute conclusion."-Tim Niland, Jazz and Blues Blogspot